Share This Story!

Pentagon steps up plan for long-range anti-ship missile

The Pentagon is making another deposit in its continued surge to build an arsenal of long-range missiles aimed at breaking down the defenses of potential adversaries, such as China and airman. On Friday, the

Tags

The Pentagon is making another deposit in its surge to build an arsenal of long-range missiles aimed at breaking down the defenses of potential adversaries, such as China and Iran.

Friday, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) filed a request for permission to extend the research for the long-range, anti-ship missile for two years worth $175 million to Lockheed Martin, which has led the research into the missile development since 2009.

That follows the Obama administration's defense budget request this month for 224 long-range Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) missiles worth $353 million. Those missiles use much of the same technology as the anti-ship missile would, military records show.

Both missiles are meant to counter what are called anti-access, area-denial weapons developed by China and other nations that are meant to make it difficult for U.S. ships to get too close to their shores. The Pentagon's quadrennial defense review, which was released this month, cites the JASSM and anti-ship missiles as key components of the plan to minimize the anti-access, area-denial threats.

By 2018, the military hopes to deploy the anti-ship missiles on a B-1 bomber and on an F-18 the following year, DARPA records show. DARPA plans to finish its research work and transfer the program to the Navy in fiscal year 2016, which starts Oct. 1, 2015.

Switching contractors from Lockheed Martin could cost $132 million and set the program back 60 months, the DARPA document shows.